Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, where the House for an Art Lover is situated, was the site of the Empire Exhibition 1938.

Towards the exit of the House a digital reconstruction of the Exhibition was on display. This one is from YouTube:-

There was also a small cabinet containing some memorabilia from the Exhibition:-

The memorabilia in the picture are: a toasting fork, a bronze model of the Tower of Empire (Tait’s Tower,) a metal badge in the shape of the Tower, the official Guide to the Exhibition, a glass dish on which there is a season ticket for the Exhibition, the book entitled The Empire Exhibition Fifty Years On and a Birrell’s chocolate box. Presumably the structural engineering company whose plaque is also present had a stand at the Exhibition.

Long time readers of this blog will know of my interest in the International Exhibitions held in Glasgow (1888, 1901,) the Scottish National Exhibition of 1911 and the Empire Exhibition of 1938.

Hence I was delighted to see this painting of the main building by William J Kennedy of the 1901 Exhibition on display at the Hunterian Art Gallery when we visited:-

Charles Rennie Mackintosh submitted designs for some of that Exhibition’s buildings (as well as for the 1911 one) as noted in this :-

And of course this picture of Dumbarton Rock and the River Clyde was irresistible:-

Then there was this one by my favourite impressionist painter, Alfred Sisley, one of a series he painted of the church at Moret:-

Portrait of a child by Henry Rayburn:-

Not to mention a couple of Old Masters, The Entombment by Rembrandt:-

and the one that stood out from across the room, Head of an Old Man by Rubens. It’s absolutely stunning:-

I haven’t done one of these posts featuring postcards from the Empire Exhibition 1938 in a while. The tower was officially known as The Tower of Empire but was dubbed Tait’s Tower after its architect.

A colourised photo of The North Cascade and Tower by Night at the Empire Exhibition 1938:-

Black and White Photo Postcard, North Cascade and Tower:-

A Fountain and Tait’s Tower, Empire Exhibition 1938, with Palace of Engineering:-

Another postcard of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938. The Cascade and Lake on Dominions Avenue, art drawn by Brian Gerald:-

Here is a wonderful Art Deco poster for the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938, held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. I saw the poster for sale at Ingliston Antiques Fair in Edinburgh:-

There, too, was this brilliant Art Deco style chocolate box lid showing one of the two Scottish Pavilions at the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938:-

Also at the same Ingliston Antiques Fair I saw this framed photo of an Art Deco building which looks as if it may have been (still be?) a hotel. The flag standard is flying a French tricolour.

I haven’t done one of these 1938 Empire Exhibition posts for a while but these are two crackers.

On left the Tower of Empire by Night; a Brian Gerald art-drawn postcard by Valentine’s for the Empire Exhibition, Glasgow 1938.

On the right the South Cascade and Tower by Night, Empire Exhibition 1938: a colourised postcard of the Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938.

The Tower at night must have been wonderful.

Another Brian Gerald drawn art postcard from the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938. This time of the Scottish Avenue. It shows both Scottish Pavilions (the ones with the towers) and the BBC Pavilion in the foreground. At the other end of the avenue is the Palace of Arts, the only building from the Exhibition still standing in Bellahouston Park.